Liz Truss loves a good party so it’s perhaps no surprise to read that she supports buying a swanky New York townhouse for British diplomats to entertain VIPs. But the nineteenth century mansion is expected to come at a price – £20 million – at a time when the Foreign Office is desperately looking for ways to cut costs, amid talk of a 20 per cent staff reduction. Luckily, Britain’s hard-pressed mandarins are never short of an idea or two to raise a few bob.
One such wheeze is hiring out some of the department’s buildings to TV crews to raise thousands in extra funds. In the past five years, the Foreign Office has allowed filmmakers onto its property on some 29 occasions, with studios demonstrating a clear preference for the neo-classical splendour of Lancaster House. Filming has taken place there 23 times between January 2017 and February 2022, including most notably for Netflix’s hit series Bridgerton where the nineteenth-century palace doubled for Queen Charlotte’s palace. Other sites used include the department’s King Charles Street base and Truss’s own ministerial residence Carlton Gardens.
Naturally, in true Whitehall style, the Foreign Office refused to declare how much cash it has raised from filming on its estate on the grounds that ‘the commercial interests of the FCDO itself
could be prejudiced.’ Hmm. Fortunately, Mr S can reveal details of another Foreign Office scheme to raise extra cash: luxury watches, phones and jewellery given as gifts to ambassadors and their staff are being auctioned off for a fraction of their original value. Though the department refused to say which countries’ presents it had sold, a Freedom of Information request revealed it has raised more than £72,000 from selling such gifts since 2017. Among them included two Huawei mobile phones – items which the security-conscious department was no doubt glad to get off its books.
Gifts are typically accepted by diplomats abroad then later sold by the Foreign Office at auction, with buyers unaware of their history. The highest sum went for a Audemars Piguet watch which sold for £7,930 in 2016-17 with a Rolex ladies’ watch going for £5,603 three years later. There are concerns though about whether the Foreign Office is getting full whack for such items: a Vivienne Westwood handbag went for just £37 in 2017-18 when such accessories typically command three figures.
And if Liz is to get her new £20 million purchase, every little helps…
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